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Mar 18, 2021 21:20:03 GMT
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I'm well on with my Mazda-MX5-gearbox-into-Triumph-GT6 project and have the car running/driving. I have hit a late snag though (following on from a fairly long list of earlier snags). So far I've only driven the car with the tunnel cover off. I have tried the tunnel cover on before and it's fitted - if rather snugly. Today however it did not fit anymore. After the usual violence and cussing failed to improve matters, I found a torch and spotted the problem straight away. All previous cover fitting testing had been done without the reversing light switch fitted..... and now it's in. Doh - design fail! It's a rather chunky switch at 30mm from mounting face to wires and very unhelpfully placed as it also lines up almost perfectly with the H-frame/radio mount, so I can't just put a power bulge in the tunnel cover! I may end up having to plug the hole and put a switch elsewhere but first I'd like to try and get a lower profile switch as if I could loose 10mm (15mm better) that would just about do it and save a lot of messing about. So, I'm looking for a plunger switch with M14 x 2 thread. The original part looks like this..... I need the 30mm dimension to be 20mm or less - long shot maybe, but any ideas? TIA Nick
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1967 Triumph Vitesse convertible (old friend) 1996 Audi A6 2.5 TDI Avant (still durability testing) 1972 GT6 Mk3 (Restored after loong rest & getting the hang of being a car again)
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Mar 18, 2021 22:09:41 GMT
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I’m not sure on the legalities of it but could an option of mounting a micro switch at a point the gear lever would activate it when you put it into reverse work?
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Rich
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 6,227
Club RR Member Number: 160
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Alternative reversing light switchRich
@foxmcintyre
Club Retro Rides Member 160
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Mar 18, 2021 22:12:14 GMT
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I’m not sure on the legalities of it but could an option of mounting a micro switch at a point the gear lever would activate it when you put it into reverse work? Perfectly legal. And not a bad ‘last resort’ way round the problem.
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That's how I have done it for BIVA.
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Proton Jumbuck-deceased :-( 2005 Kia Sorento the parts hauling heap V8 Humber Hawk 1948 Standard12 pickup 1953 Pop build (wifey's BIVA build).
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Mar 19, 2021 10:04:02 GMT
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A manual switch (presumably requiring a tell-tale light to be legal?) is plan B.
Maybe even plan A in the short term as I want to get out and use the thing and see what other bugs are lurking.
There is some scope for adding a switch to my homebrew gate mechanism, but not really space for anything off the lever itself.
The final solution has to be gear lever operated though. I haven’t gone to this much trouble to leave a detail like this untended.
Would be nice to use the original location and would be possible with a sufficiently compact switch. I feel research mission to the scrapyard coming on....
Thanks
Nick
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Last Edit: Mar 19, 2021 10:10:22 GMT by vitesseefi
1967 Triumph Vitesse convertible (old friend) 1996 Audi A6 2.5 TDI Avant (still durability testing) 1972 GT6 Mk3 (Restored after loong rest & getting the hang of being a car again)
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Mar 19, 2021 17:16:33 GMT
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SIlly idea, but on old series landies theres a huge grommet in the trans tunnel . Any way you could cut a hole and fit the switch after the tunnel is installed? Gives you access without major stripping too?
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bstardchild
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,858
Club RR Member Number: 71
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Mar 19, 2021 17:55:11 GMT
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Any Good www.ebay.co.uk/itm/324252971789Height (mm) 22 mm Width (mm) 56 mm Number of Poles 2 Supplementary Article / Info 2 without cable Housing colour White Thread size M14 x 1.5 Spanner size 22
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Mar 19, 2021 19:21:06 GMT
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That switch looks like a very good shout - thanks for that 🙂 The problem with a grommet or a power bulge is that the switch lines up almost exactly with the H-frame dash support, which follows the contours is the tunnel very closely. It’s funny, when I shoe-horned a W58 Supra box into my Vitesse 15 years ago, it certainly had its challenges, but at the late stages there was a bit serendipity and a bunch of little things like this fell into place with minimal effort. This one though is fighting to the last.... Did make the new bit of removable tunnel this afternoon..... I’d post a pic if I was on the PC..... Nick New piece.... Just been messing with the now redundant neutral position switch which is very similar to the reversing light switch. I've got the top off without killing it. If it fits I should be able to solder wires to the stubs and epoxy over it. It's about 20mm like this. This temporary plug is 11.5 mm and fits with room to spare....
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Last Edit: Mar 19, 2021 20:12:44 GMT by vitesseefi
1967 Triumph Vitesse convertible (old friend) 1996 Audi A6 2.5 TDI Avant (still durability testing) 1972 GT6 Mk3 (Restored after loong rest & getting the hang of being a car again)
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Mar 21, 2021 23:05:59 GMT
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So, what I hope is a conclusion to this. Even at 20mm, the altered switch was substantially too big. It's difficult, nay, impossible, to photograph what's happening inside the tunnel, so some pics showing the H-frame which fits snugly around the outside of the tunnel at almost the exact spot the switch is. In this shot you can see the H frame fully dressed and on the left you can see the black and silver blanking plug in the switch position. That ends 11.5 mm from the casing with about the same from it to the H frame. I've got to fit a 3mm fibreglass skin in there and some carpet and a bit of gap would be nice..... This is the Mazda switch in situ. The frame isn't in place but offset backwards because they want to share the same space. Never mind the other stuff that needs to be there..... Then I spotted a switch in a remote from an old Dolomite 'box. Nice compact head, 3/8" UNC thread so an adapter to M14 x 2 is viable, but too long in the shank by about 15mm. Made an adapter from a bit of M14 bolt, then chopped up the switch. That didn't go quite as expected and I thought I'd killed it, but a bit more investigation revealed a way forward........ fiddly..... very fiddly.... ......But produced this wee beastie. It even works! That's 14mm deep. and looks like this against the H frame. The H frame is partly undressed because it has an appointment with Mr Grinder to talk about weight loss....... Having decided to give it a go, I wired the switch. As the switch was so small and had suffered some trauma, I decided that the now redundant overdrive relay could be used to make it's life a bit easier - and reduce the chance of blowing fuses and smoke if the switch does get munched. Spot the conversion...... No switch on the gear knob anymore. Nothing else has changed. I suppose I could have kept the switch and used it for ....... something else. The converted switch is still too big for the space really - the order of assembly makes it impossible to see how much clearance there is. There is some, as there is some flex in the tunnel at the critical point, but there can't be much..... Reversing lights are working now. If they are still working after a drive around, I may not have been wasting my time! Nick
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Last Edit: Mar 22, 2021 19:25:07 GMT by vitesseefi
1967 Triumph Vitesse convertible (old friend) 1996 Audi A6 2.5 TDI Avant (still durability testing) 1972 GT6 Mk3 (Restored after loong rest & getting the hang of being a car again)
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